Rejoice in Suffering

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Peace with God is achieved when Jesus Christ is received. We have been justified by faith we have access into His grace and we rejoice in the hope of eternal life with God. But how should we react to the difficulties of life? We can still have joy even in the midst of our sufferings.

Just because we are justified by faith, that does not excuse us from the trials of life.  Jesus said, “In this world you shall have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Moses wrote, "Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away." Psalm 90:10 

In this life we have afflictions, chronic pain, emotional distress, suffering, heartache, financial trouble, loneliness, debilitating diseases, marriage and family problems, sickness, grief. But for believers in Christ, trials work for us and not against us. God allows trials to make us better, not bitter. Our trials are designed to bring us closer to God and make us more like Jesus.

Paul says we can rejoice in our sufferings. Consider what he endured.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:24-28

Yet he could rejoice in his sufferings because understood the reason why.

Suffering produces endurance; the ability to stand up under difficulties without caving in. But you have to suffer to develop endurance. Just like a runner who stresses his body to develop endurance. Suffering is just part of the Christian life. God knows how much tribulation we can take, so He carefully measures the suffering we face.

Endurance produces proven character. It is a quality of confidence that comes through an experience. You’ve probably seen sports teams that do great during the regular season but when they get to the playoffs play poorly because they’ve never been in that position before. But a team that has been tested with playoff experience has fewer jitters. They perform well because they have been there before. But without the first step the second step won’t happen. When you focus on God in the midst of your suffering you will develop endurance, and that endurance deepens your character. You will be tried, tested and approved by God.

Then proven character produces hope. It gives you a stronger assurance and confidence that God will give you the power, strength and encouragement to see you through what trial you face.

Suffering drives us to the one place where we can find real hope, real confidence and real certainty, God. We can boast in the hope that comes from God. When people look at you and wonder how you can get through the trials of life, you can boast that my hope comes from the Lord and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

All of us want to develop proven character and have more hope. Those qualities spring out of endurance, which comes through suffering. If it were up to me, I would prefer that God just sprinkle some endurance and character and hope on me while I’m sleeping at night. I could wake up and be a much more spiritual man! But that’s not the way God works.

And hope does not disappoint. The hope that suffering builds in us is a hope that won’t be disappointed. Our hope is centered on God’s promises and they will always be fulfilled. Our hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The way God works in us produces a domino effect. Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

What are you suffering through? Grief, chronic pain, emotional distress, heartache, financial trouble, loneliness, debilitating diseases, marriage and family problems, sickness? How are you going to deal with it? Remember, our present troubles are small, they only come when necessary and they won’t last for long.

The more you endure, the greater the blessing. So, don’t complain because you have to suffer. Our complaining doesn’t honor God and it thwarts what He is trying to accomplish in your life. Godly character can only be developed through struggle. The trials, the tests, the pain, the suffering, and difficulties only prove to make us stronger.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. James 1:2

We can praise God in the midst of the storm because we know that the end result is something good. Our trials work for us and not against us. Our trials are designed to bring us closer to God and make us more like Jesus.

Fresh and Flourishing

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 92:12-15

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

This passage suggests that there is a place of service for the elderly in service of God.  They are able to bear fruit and flourish despite their old age. Consider God’s use of older people in the Bible.

Moses and Aaron were chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage at the ages of 80 and 83. They served the people of God for forty years. Moses wrote in Psalm 90:10 “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty.” So he and his brother were already past the normal life span when they were used by God.

After the death of Moses, Joshua was given the charge of leading the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan. He was 80 years old at the time.

Caleb, who had fought alongside Joshua since he was young, requested his portion of land from Joshua when he was elderly. We read his request in Joshua 14:11-12, “I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.” He and his clan fought and drove out giants in the land.

And let’s not forget Daniel who was taken away from Israel as a teen during the Babylonian captivity. He served God for over 70 years. He was well over eighty when he served as one of three governors over Babylon. History shows that he was over 83 years old when he was thrown into the lion’s den, and after that God gave him a series of prophetic visions.

Just as God used the elderly in Bible times, God still uses older people today. Elders help the church function properly. God designed the church to be overseen by elders. The apostle Paul wrote this instruction to his young protégé Titus. “An elder, as God's steward, must be above reproach, not arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” Titus 1:7-8

Later in that same book Paul tells Titus that the older women are to serve as examples in the church. “Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” Titus 2:3-5

God is not finished with you yet, no matter what your age. There are many ways you can serve the Lord. One of the best things you can do is spend your time in prayer. Maybe you can exercise your benevolence. Most elderly people are more financially secure that younger families are. You could encourage others with cards or letters or you could even have a Bible study where you live.

There’s an 85 year old gentleman in my church who spreads the word of God by giving away devotionals or Bible tracts. I have another friend who is 84 years old and he has ministered in the local jail for 30 years. He also feeds cattle daily and has pastored his church for the last seven years.

The Apostle Paul was still writing letters of instruction to the churches even in his later years. May the attitude of "Paul the aged" be in you.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Philippians 3:12-16